Old Ned's Blog

Ever wonder why we are the way we are? I was just a little kid. I Stole a comic book from a store in our small mountain village. I didn’t realize that my father was standing outside the window and watching the whole thing.

We got in the car, and he asked if there was anything I wanted to tell him. I said no, and after some denials, tears, and confession, I had to return the comic to the owner and give him the nickel it cost.

Fast forward to high school when I had a job at a supermarket (except they didn’t call them that). I worked in the produce department, and there were no modern scales to give an accurate weight for any per-pound produce.

We had to use a hanging tray scale and get the weight, calculate the cost per pound, figure out the price, write it on the bag for the checkout and hand it to the customer with a smile.

The problem was that the produce manager had what was termed a heavy thumb. He would pick the product off the scale while it was still swinging, and If the actual price were 75 cents, he would write 87 cents, picking up 12 cents. He called it shrinkage recovery. I called it stealing and refused to do it.

He said it was necessary to maintain the profit margin. I replied that if he spent more time planning his orders from the warehouse, he wouldn’t need to steal. He called me the preacher. It was usually said with a sneer. When I caught him at his car, loading bags of produce and food from the meat department and the general groceries aisles, he would threaten me and curse at me. I put up with it because when I went to the store manager with it, he blew it off. It was almost a daily event.

Then one day, while I was off in the corner of the back room where the produce refrigerator was, trimming lettuce, he slipped in and hurried over to the loading dock, carrying an entire large case of sheets of S &H Green stamps that had been delivered that day. He hid it on the back edge of the dock and piled some junk cardboard over it.

I went back to the Manager and told him what was being stolen this time, right under his eyes. He called the police, and they sat outside and watched his car from a distance. They caught him putting the case of stamps into his trunk. I never saw him again, but since I was ordering the produce and no longer lost profits to shrinkage, I was the unnamed produce manager for the next year and a half until I left for college.

In the long run, it was never about the shrinkage or profits. It was about character and conduct. I learned about integrity and my role as an employee. I learned about earned trust and loyalty. It stayed with me when I became part of management. Those traits stayed with me for the rest of my life.

Those principles guided me through the business world and into full-time Christian ministry, where I finally became that preacher guy the produce manager mockingly called me.

The kicker to this is something that just happened to me in the neighborhood. It immediately brought those two life events to my mind, as clear as if I were there living them.

I had been expecting a package of coffee from Nespresso. UPS delivered a huge box of coffee, and when I opened it, I discovered it contained nothing of my order. When I checked the in-box copy of the invoice, I had received someone else’s order. I found the name and phone number of the actual customer and called. She lives in Redmond Ridge. Excellent job, UPS. not even close.

She returned the call and told me she had received a delivered product notice but no product. She picked up her package yesterday and gave us a gift box of chocolates. But it was what she said that hit home. She said that I gave her hope for this world. She thanked me for being honest. It had never entered my mind that I was being honest.

I just did what any neighbor would do, or so I thought. I skimmed through Next Door this morning and read about all the front door package thefts, the car thefts, and so many other instances of people hurting other people.

What should you and I do? Throw in the towel and live a life without character and integrity and stop giving more than taking? No. But how can we fix this? It is imperative that you and I do not give in to this kind of lifestyle; that we live our lives with character and integrity, loving others. Will we change the world?

No, but we will live lives of inner peace and joy. And change the world around us. That’s my wish for all of us this holiday season. Did I get my own coffee? No. There’s always hope.

PS. I was just sitting down to post this and answered a call from a dear lady In Trilogy. She had my Nespresso package, delivered by UPS, was sitting at her door. But, yes, folks, there is abundant hope! I picked it up, delivered it to the right door, and I am now relaxing, enjoying a nice cappuccino. All is well again.